Baltimore Activist Alert - July 31 to August 10, 2014

36] End his inhumane immigration enforcement policies – July 31
37] Vigil for peace at White House – Aug. 1
38] Vigil for Justice in Palestine – Aug. 1
39] Congressional briefing on massacre in Gaza – Aug. 1
40] Silent peace vigil – Aug. 1
41] See THE IRON GIANT – Aug. 1
42] The context of the current assault on Gaza – Aug. 1
43] Support public defenders – Aug. 1 & 2
44] See the film “Let Us Pass” – Aug. 1
45] Ballroom Dancing – Aug. 1
46] See the exhibit Incarcerated Masses: Artists Respond to America’s Prison Problem – Aug. 1
47] Fundraising conference – Aug. 2 – 3
48] Push Obama on deportation – Aug. 2
49] Olney Peace vigil – Aug. 2
50] West Chester, PA demo – Aug. 2
51] Silent peace vigil – Aug. 2
52] The Liberation Ride – Aug. 2
53] Anti-Drone Death Walk --- Aug. 2
54] Protest the massacre in Gaza – Aug. 2
55] Carpool to Gaza demo – Aug. 2
56] Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration – August 6 & 9
57] Save the date! - Aug. 10
58] Ronda Cooperstein on social media
59] Sign up with Washington Peace Center
60] Join Fund Our Communities
61] Donate books, videos, DVDs and records
62] Do you need any book shelves?
63] Join Global Zero campaign
64] War Is Not the Answer signs for sale
65] Join Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil
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36] – On Thurs., July 31 at noon, join an act of civil disobedience in front of the White House with 100 faith leaders and 30 immigrant rights activists from across the country will risk arrest to demand that President Barack Obama end his inhumane immigration enforcement policies. Bishops, nuns, rabbis, pastors, workers and impacted immigrants will hold a prayer service and press conference in Lafayette Park to urge the President to stop deportations immediately, dramatically expand relief for America’s immigrant families and workers, and protect unaccompanied children who have sought refuge in the U.S. Some 130 faith and immigrant advocates will then engage in civil disobedience along the White House fence to bring moral clarity on the injustice of 1,100 deportations per day. Sponsors include the United Methodist Church, Church World Service, CASA de Maryland, Bend the Arc, the Unitarian Universalists Association, the United Church of Christ, Sisters of Mercy, Disciples Home Missions of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the PICO National Network. Contact Sidney Traynham at straynham@cwsglobal.org or 703-909-6934.

37] – On Fri., Aug. 1 from noon to 1 PM, join the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker in a vigil urging the powers that be to abolish war and torture, to disarm all weapons, to end indefinite detention, to close Guantanamo, to establish justice for all and help create the Beloved Community! The vigil takes place at the White House on Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Contact Art @ artlaffin@hotmail.com or at 202-360-6416.

38] – A vigil for Justice in Palestine/Israel takes place every Friday from noon to 1 PM at 19th & JFK Blvd., Philadelphia, across from Israeli Consulate. It is sponsored by Bubbies & Zaydes (Grandparents) for Peace in the Middle East. Email cswartz@pil.net. Go to http://phillyjewishpeace.org/.

39] – The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation is organizing a congressional briefing on Fri., Aug. 1 from 2 to 3:30 PM in 2103 Rayburn House Office Building. The briefing will focus on Israel's attacks against Palestinian civilians and misuse of U.S.-supplied weapons. Go to http://org.salsalabs.com/o/641/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=16083.

40] – There is usually a silent peace vigil on Fridays, from 5 to 6 PM, outside the Cathedral of the Incarnation, University Parkway and St. Paul St. The Aug. 1 vigil, sponsored by Homewood Friends and Stony Run Meetings, reminds us that War Is Not the Answer and that there is the need to stop torture.

41] – The First-Friday Free Large Screen Film Series continues at the Peace Center of Delaware County, 1001 Old Sproul Road, Springfield, PA 19064. On Fri., Aug. 1 at 7 PM see THE IRON GIANT, an animated treat for the whole family with a message about love and trust in the face of fear. Doors open at 6:30 PM for light refreshments. After the film, engage in a discussion. Go to http://www.delcopeacecenter.org/ or call 610-544-1818. The event is co-sponsored by the Brandywine Peace Community.

This 1999 film is directed by Brad Bird, with the voice talents of Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick, Jr., and Vin Diesel as the Iron Giant. It is the 1950s, and there is a Cold War, a time of suspicion and impending doom. A lonely boy named Hogarth who daydreams of alien invasions and doing battle with Communists until he discovers a lovable iron giant who has fallen from space. The giant eats metals and promises not to become a weapon. Hogarth, with the help of a beatnik named Dean, must stop an FBI agent and the U.S. Army from finding and destroying the gentle giant. The film is based on the book The Iron Man by the late British poet Ted Hughes and is adapted for the stage by rock musician Pete Townsend (The Who) who served as the film's executive producer.

42] – At Busboys and Poets, 5th and K Sts. NW on Fri., Aug. 1 from 7 to 9 PM, enjoy a panel discussion with Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies, Retired Col. Ann Wright and others. They will talk about the context of the current assault on Gaza, the consequences, the U.S. role and responsibility, and beyond. Tariq Abu Khdeir is the 15-year-old Palestinian-American arrested and beaten by Israeli police in Jerusalem last month. Tariq’s cousin Mohammed Abu Khdeir was kidnapped and tortured to death by right-wing Israeli extremists the day before Tariq was detained. Tariq and his family will be visiting with members of Congress earlier in the day and will join this special Middle East Cafe.

43] -- Enjoy a Baltimore Orioles game on Public Defender NIGHTS AT CAMDEN YARDS! Contact Lou Curran for tickets at lcurran@opd.state.md.us or 410-499-8899. On Fri., Aug. 1, the O’s play the Seattle Mariners at 7 PM. Tickets are $13 in section 344 on a night when the 60th anniversary of the Orioles takes place. On Sat., Aug. 2, the O’s play the Seattle Mariners at 7 PM. Tickets are $14 in section 334. The games benefit the Legal Aid Bureau, the Public Justice Center, the MCDAA, NACDL’s Foundation for Criminal Justice, & the Association for the Public Defender – MD. All seats are Upper Reserved behind home plate, & under cover in case of showers.

44] – There is a screening of “Dejenos Pasar” [“Let Us Pass”] on Fri., Aug. 1 at 7:30 PM at Red Emma's Bookstore Café’s Free School Classroom, 30 W. North Ave., Baltimore 21201. Every year approximately 400,000 undocumented Central American migrants travel through México to arrive to the United States, many riding the infamous cargo train known as ¨La Bestia¨ or ¨The Beast. This is a short film that documents the realities of the journey through México for many Central Americans. It focuses on the closure of a migrant shelter critically located along the train route in the State of México. A discussion on migration from Central America will follow. Call 443-602-7585. Go to http://www.redemmas.org.

45] – There is an opportunity to participate in ballroom dancing, usually every Friday of the month, in the JHU ROTC Bldg. at 8 PM. Turn south on San Martin Dr. from the intersection of Univ. Parkway and 39th St. Drive on campus by taking the third left turn. The next dance will be Aug. 1. Call Dave Greene at 410-599-3725.

46] – Come to Artists Studios, 411 New York Ave. NE, Room 2B, WDC on Fri., Aug. 1 from 8 to 11 PM, see Incarcerated Masses: Artists Respond to America’s Prison Problem. This exhibition will feature a range of radical printmakers and street artists calling both for reforms that immediately improve prisoner’s quality of life, and for the altogether abolition of the prison industrial complex. Exploring central themes of dismantling the drug war, ending solitary confinement, prisoner abuse, and ceasing the mass detention and deportation of migrants, the show will feature printworks and mural installations by some of today’s pre-eminent activist artists. Striving to impact institutional and cultural change around these critical issues, how can art be used as a tool to express solidarity with prisoners while shaping a future vision of decarceration? Proceeds from print sales and donations will benefit Friends and Family of Incarcerated People, an organization that fosters community support to meet the needs of the at-risk children and families of those imprisoned with the purpose of avoiding inter-generational incarceration. The suggested donation is from $5 to $10. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1459547867635137/.

47] – Consider going to Money For Our Movements: A Social Justice Fundraising Conference, which is taking place on Sat., Aug. 2 and Sun., Aug. 3 at Johns Hopkins University, organized by the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT). Are you looking to increase funding from your community to grow the work of your organization? Would you like to see your organization’s funding stream more diversified and sustainable? Are you working in isolation and looking for community with other social justice fundraisers? This conference will offer fundraising skills training geared toward social justice activists, featuring hands-on exercises and practical information. There will be over 70 workshops and facilitated discussions, with the most popular sessions being offered twice! Register at https://www.z2systems.com/np/clients/grassroots/eventRegistration.jsp?event=98&.

48] – After months of shutting down ICE offices, signing petitions, filing briefs, educating elected officials, and breaking ICE’s hold on local jurisdictions, the pressure on the president has broken through. He has announced that immigration policy will no longer be submitted to a legislative strategy and he will do what’s in his power to “fix” the system. Now is not a time for cosmetic changes or tweaks to a system that is not just broken but unjust. What may once have been considered “going big” is now just common sense for the President to reverse his record deportations and right his policies to expand relief to the fullest extent possible under the law. Gather at 12th & Jefferson Dr. SW, WDC 20560 on Sat., Aug. 2 from 10 AM to 3 PM.

49] – Friends House, 17715 Meeting House Rd., Sandy Spring, MD 20860, hosts a peace vigil every Saturday, 10:30 to 11:30 AM, on the corner of Rt. 108 and Georgia Ave. [Route 97] in Olney, MD. The next vigil is Aug. 2. Call Chuck Harker at 301-570-7167.

50] – Each Saturday, 11 AM – 1 PM, Chester County Peace Movement holds a peace vigil in West Chester in front of the Chester County Courthouse, High & Market Sts. Go to www.ccpeace.org. Email ccpeacemovement@aol.com.

51] – There will be a peace vigil on the West Lawn of the Capitol at noon on Sat., Aug. 2. Look for the blue banner with the message, "Seek Peace and Pursue It.--Psalms 34:14." The vigil lasts one hour and is silent except when one responds to the occasional questions. Go to http://www.quaker.org/langleyhill/seekpeace.htm or email seekpeacevigil@yahoo.com.

52] – On Sat., Aug. 2 at noon, the Liberation Ride will connect the #Not1More March Against Deportations and the National March for Gaza Against the Occupation. The group will be leaving from the White House. Why are people biking? This bike ride won't stop the influx of refugees, documented or not, coming to this country, nor will it stop the bombs raining down on Gaza. In these times it's important, as thousands continue the long work of combating ICE, blocking deportations, lobbying Congress, working on Boycotts of Israel, and ending US militarism and economic death abroad, to make our presence felt on the streets. Contact Nico at elchiapanico@gmail.com.

53] – On Sat., Aug. 2 from noon to 1 PM, join the Philadelphia Center City Monthly Drone Death Walk and Vigil. Gather at 12th & Market Sts and bring signs and banners. White Masks will be provided. RSVP Marge Cleef at 267-763-1644.

54] – On Sat., Aug. 2 at 1 PM, join thousands of people in a National March on the White House to condemn the Israeli massacre in Gaza. We are in the streets every day in cities around the country. What is needed now is a massive National March on Washington. Israel receives $4 billion in "aid" from the United States each year. This money is being used to commit war crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza. Activists and allies are demanding that all U.S aid to Israel be ended now! Demand an end to the massacre in Gaza, an end to the blockade and an end to all U.S. aid to Israel! The colonial occupation must cease! Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/1505340756367346/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming.

55] – Join the Committee for Palestinian Rights and Howard County Peace Action in carpooling to Saturday’s demonstration. Meet at the Broken Land Park and Ride in Columbia at 11:30 AM, and then carpool to the Silver Spring Metro.

56] – For the 30th year, the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Committee will gather to remember the atomic bombings of Japan on August 6 & 9, 1945, which killed more than 200,000 people. Other organizations involved in this year’s commemorations are the Baltimore Quaker Peace and Justice Committee of Homewood and Stony Run Meetings, Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility, Crabshell Alliance and the Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore.

It is our duty to ensure that nuclear weapons are never used again and that nuclear abolition becomes reality. Taking this to heart, members of the Transform Now Plowshares, Sister Megan Rice, Greg Boertje-Obed and Michael Walli, are in federal prisons serving long sentences for their May 2013 disarmament action at the Y12 Nuclear Weapons Complex in Knoxville, TN.

On Wed., Aug. 6, gather at 33rd and N. Charles Streets from 5:30 to 6:30 PM to protest Johns Hopkins University’s weapons research, including a swarming drones contract, and call for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the closing of nuclear power plants. Then go to the Bufano Sculpture Garden on Johns Hopkins Homewood campus, where the Hibakusha, survivors of an atomic bomb explosion, will speak. The guests are Mr. Toshiyuki Mimaki, Hiroshima Hibakusha born March 15, 1942 and vice president of Hiroshima Prefectural Hidankyo, and Ms. Fumie Kakita, Nagasaki second-generation Hibakusha born October 12, 1953, who is the assistant secretary general of Nagasaki Council of A-bomb Sufferers. Then enjoy dinner at Niwana Restaurant, 3 East 33rd Street.

On Sat., Aug. 9, starting at 5 PM, there will be a potluck dinner at Homewood Friends Meetinghouse, 3107 N. Charles St. At 6:30 PM, the Baltimore Labor Chorus will perform. Then Meher Hans, a high student will explain her concern for the atomic bombings of Japan, and Tim Whitehouse, executive direct of the Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility, will discuss the activities of the local PSR chapter. Finally, participants will share through verse, poetry or song why s/he is moved to dissent against nuclear weapons and power and killer drone strikes.

On Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, we welcome performances by musicians and poets. Let us know if you will perform. Call Max at 410-366-1637 or email him at mobuszewski at Verizon.net.

57] – SAVE THE DATE!!!!! Get over to "Family Fun" night to raise funds for Dr. Mutulu Skakur and the development of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to free our Political Prisoners/Prisoners of War. It will take place at Skateland North Point, 1113 Old North Point Rd., Baltimore 21222, on Sun., Aug. 10 from 4:30 to 7:30 PM. Admission is $10 which includes skate rental. Contact Abdul-Jabbar at 610.621.0699 (Maryland State Jericho). Go to http://mutulushakur.com/site/.

58] -- Ronda Cooperstein has taken to social media, and is recording her opinion pieces on You Tube. Check out her latest essay - THE WASHINGTON POST WITH TOAST: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffj-Scno-5Q.

59] -- The Washington Peace Center has a progressive calendar & activist alert! Consider signing up to receive its weekly email: info@washingtonpeacecenter.org.

60] -- Fund Our Communities campaign is a grass roots movement to get support from local organizations and communities to work together with their local and state elected officials to pressure Congresspersons and senators to join with Congresspersons Barney Frank and Ron Paul, who have endorsed a 25% cut to the federal military budget. Bring home the savings to state and county governments to meet the local needs which are under tremendous budget pressures. Go to www.OurFunds.org.

61] -- If you would like to get rid of books, videos, DVDs or records, contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net.

62] -- Can you use any book shelves? Can you use any file cabinets? Contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net.

63] -- Join an extraordinary global campaign for the elimination of nuclear weapons: http://www.globalzero.org/sign-declaration. A growing group of leaders around the world is calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons and a majority of the global public agrees. This is an historic window of opportunity. With momentum already building in favor of Zero, a major show of support from people around the world could tip the balance. When it comes to nuclear weapons, one is one too many.

64] -- WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER signs from Friends Committee on National Legislation are again for sale at $5. To purchase a sign, call Max at 410-366-1637.

65] – A Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil takes place every day in Lafayette Park, 1601 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 24 hours a day, since June 3, 1981. Go to http://prop1.org; call 202-682-4282.

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/.

"One is called to live nonviolently, even if the change one works for seems impossible. It may or may not be possible to turn the US around through nonviolent revolution. But one thing favors such an attempt: the total inability of violence to change anything for the better" - Daniel Berrigan